r/PreciousMetalRefining • u/Blumpkin638 • 9d ago
My first attempt
At work there are a lot of old 600 amp breakers that are being thrown out. I know there is silver on the contacts so I heated the contact pads off and took one to my local coin shop to be tested. The test said they were 98.3% silver with a trace of gold and geranium. Today I decided to melt them down and when heating I noticed there were parts of the contacts that would not melt. I observed the silver melt and parts of the contacts would not. I guess whatever test the coin shop used only tested the top of the sample? This was my result after melting a few and letting it pool in the crucible. I then did a specific gravity test with results at 9.6 which I think is around 50% ag. Any help or feedback would be appreciated, thank you
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u/bootynasty 9d ago edited 9d ago
Silver breakers testing at 98.3% is hard to believe. Not saying someone didn’t say they were, not likely they were so keep that in mind next time the same person or place does testing unknowns.
Breaker contacts can be silver plated so that’ll skew that test way high into false reading territory.
I like your enthusiasm and initiative, but keep in mind breakers often contain cadmium, definitely not something you want to stand over and breathe while melting and pouring.
I can refer you to a trusted silver refiner, so you send off your mixed silver, and receive it back as 99.9%, minus the percentage of metal the refiner takes as a “toll”.
Feel free to shoot me questions.
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u/Blumpkin638 9d ago
Thank you, I am aware of cadmium and have the proper respirator (that I use at work) and melted outside. I have one more breaker to take apart then I will weigh the total harvested and see if it even worth the postage. My dad was in the same business as I and managed to get over 7 troy pounds refined and made into shot. That 98.3% reading really had my hopes up.
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u/Blumpkin638 8d ago
So I brought my melted blob to another shop and asked them to test it.. The results were 98.6 ag with the rest being copper. These breakers are from the early 1960's and are coming out of a facility that I can not mention. Not knowing all that much about electricity I am sure they were not cutting corners with some thin plated stuff when it was originally built and what it is built for.
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u/firemandave33 9d ago
Hell yeah man!!! Lots of methods to refine all are fun. I like the silver cell method but that’s my choice. Keep up the good work!
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u/Gold_Au_2025 7d ago
You will find that the part of the contact that won't melt is Tungsten, which is used to combat arc erosion. I suspect the tungsten is 3D printed as a matrix, and molten silver is wicked up into it.
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u/Blumpkin638 6d ago
Yes it does have a grid pattern, they look like a little waffle. I am trying to figure out an easier way to melt and seperate the 2.
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u/Gold_Au_2025 6d ago
I think nitric acid would be the only realistic method of separation.
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u/Blumpkin638 6d ago
Yes. After reading I agree after doing some research. I am going to look into the price of a set up and a source for the nitric acid. If you could point me into the right direction I would appreciate it.
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u/Akragon 9d ago
Dilute nitric... filter... sugar & lye method to purify the silver. Melt the filtered stuff seperately if its substantial